Police Warn Visitors Of Georgetown Attacks

Officials Unable To Halt Violence In Popular Area

May 22, 1990|By The Washington Post

WASHINGTON — The chief spokesman for the District of Columbia police department Monday warned visitors to stay out of Georgetown on weekend nights because of growing street crowds and the inability of the police to provide special summer anti-crime patrols there.

Georgetown, a major tourist and entertainment area, has long been plagued by occasional street crime, primarily robberies. In recent months, the sporadic attacks have sometimes been directed at individuals. Police say there have been some attacks by groups, and some of those who have been attacked have said the incidents seemed racially motivated.

Gary Hankins, spokesman for the Fraternal Order of Police, said Monday that five police officers were injured in confrontations with groups of young men last weekend.

The weekend was supposed to mark the beginning of special anti-crime patrols in Georgetown, including the deployment of additional officers - 50 instead of the usual six - and the use of a special mobile headquarters to expedite booking of those arrested.

No additional officers were deployed, however, and the trailer was not present because of cuts in the police budget. Over the weekend, Georgetown was flooded with what Lt. Reginald L. Smith, a police spokesman, called an unusually large crowd.

Early Sunday, one visitor to the neighborhood, Jeffrey Weiss, said he ended up with a dislocated jaw when he was attacked by a group of young men who had knocked his friend to the ground. He said the incident occurred over nothing more than a youth "brushing past me."

Monday, Del. Walter E. Fauntroy, D-D.C., a mayoral candidate, criticized Mayor Marion Barry for allowing what he called "wilding" in Georgetown over the weekend.

"We are confronted with a crisis that demands moral authority from the mayor's office," he said. "And once again we learn, with two more murders (elsewhere) and an outbreak of wilding on the streets of Georgetown, that there is a heavy price to pay for the absence of leadership."

Smith said, "I advise people to avoid Georgetown if they can. A large number of people migrate to that area on weekends and that is an ongoing concern for us."

Hankins said the union is particularly concerned about a situation that occurred late Saturday night or early Sunday morning when an officer tried to arrest a man for a simple assault. A crowd moved in around the officer.

"They knocked the officer down and the man he was attempting to arrest escaped," Hankins said. "The officer received a sprain."

Hankins said it was "highly unusual" for an officer to lose control of a suspect.

"I would advise people to stay out of Georgetown and not to come there (unless) the summer detail is restored," Hankins said.